Random Observations: Loudon
Mental notes from a gloomy Sunday morning at New Hampshire Motor Speedway:
+ The infield scoring tower shows only the top seven positions. Nowhere is there a statistical category that recognizes a top-seven finish. A seventh-place showing usually falls under the top-10 banner.
+ If Red Bull Racing Team had a nickel for every Boston Red Sox hat seen throughout the weekend …
+ Hey, people who took their grandstand seats at 7:50 a.m., the race doesn’t start for another six hours.
+ The Web site www.weather.com has never seen so much traffic from the southern New Hampshire area.
+ When a Red Bull Racing team member is walking through garage with nothing but a lanyard around his neck, please don’t shout … “Hey, dude, got any Red Bull?” Because he doesn’t.
+ AJ Allmendinger said it best when New Hampshire doesn’t need to add banking, which has been the rumor floating around. The diversity in tracks, AJ said, is what makes the Sprint Cup circuit so challenging. But Bruton Smith, the chairman and CEO of Speedway Motorsports Inc., said Sunday morning that there are “plans” in the works.
For the couch potatoes out there …
+ No. 83 over-the-wall crewmen Shaun Peet and Brian Haaland will be featured during TNT’s pre-race broadcast (12:30 p.m. ET). The two former college hockey players spent Thursday evening on the ice with TNT pit reporter Lindsay Czarniak.
+ AJ’s No. 84 starts 10th, while BV’s No. 83 takes the green flag in 40th for today’s Lenox Industrial Tools 301 (2 p.m.).
+ Driving Eddie Sharp Racing’s No. 2 Red Bull Toyota, Scott Speed qualified eight for today’s ARCA race north of the border at Cayuga Motor Speedway (1:30 p.m.). It’s not on TV, so visit www.arcaracing.com.
posted by Bull Rider at 7:29 AM
19 Comments:
Good luck today boys!!
Great run so far for BV!!!
AJs car on fire!!
damn! A.Js out :(
It'd be easy to be disappointed with today's results, but we need to look at the bigger picture. Yeah, we lost 1 position in points, but as long as we don't lose significant points to 12th place, then we should consider it a good day. We executed great pit strategy, and got really lucky with that second caution, so, we took really a car that was destined to run 20th - 30th and put it in the top 10, and then finished 16th. 106 points out of 12th and I KNOW we'll be up front next week at Daytona. Keep your heads up and stay positive.
We all need to remember that making the chase would be an amazing feat for a second year team after all the turmoil last year.
And the 84 car which was destined to run in the top ten was again adjusted in the pits right out of contention. That happened long before the oil line broke. Listening to his radio went from a little tight in the center to "what have you done to my car". I feel bad for AJ. Too many weeks he has been in contention for a top 10 not have it finish that way.
Ya, what the hell is the 84 crew chief doing to AJ? Aj starts the race staying in the top 8 till he pits....once again loses position out of the pits.....next pit stop loses even more position.....started the race hanging in the top 8 to the back of the pack in 30th. This crew needs to really learn how to keep him up front when AJ takes the car up there instead of sending him backwards. Look at what the 83 did....started in the back, excellent pit strategy put him in the top 5 all race long. Its time for a new 84 crew chief.
I think it's funny how it's always an Anonymous doing most of the complaining on this blog. What kind of a fan are you, honestly. There were a bunch of guys with good cars that finished in the back today. No one got the finish they wanted except the guys who didn't pit at the end. Remember that it was motor problems that took AJ out. IMAGINE if the motor didn't blow up, I bet Rick Viers would've elected to stay out at the end and gain track position. THINK before you say something stupid.
I don't know about you guys but I'm looking forward to Daytona.
Thanks to that last-place finish and Yeley's 3rd place finish, AJ's dropped to 38th in owner points, and about 159 back of 35th!!
If we're seriously gonna have both Red Bulls in the top 35 by year's end, the 84 team needs to get their act together, especially in the pits. Bad luck happens and can't always be avoided, I understand, but pit miscues can be fixed. I hope the 84 crew turns it around at Daytona, I've had strong feelings AJ would be locked into races very soon, but after these last two weeks, I'm losing a little bit of that hope. I need to see a strong Daytona performance to gain it back!!
Sucks for Vickers too, pit strategy was going to work out for him, but then it came back and bit him at the end. Still 38th to 16th is nothing to be too ashamed about considering how hard it was to pass all day. He should be strong Sat. night.
AJ had dropped all the way back to 30th Curt before the oil line broke. Being at the back of the field had nothing to do with mechanical issues. That was just the icing on the cake. Do you listen to AJ on the radio? He had a decent car that handled worse after every pit stop. He should be in the top 35 already. You cant blame him for his frustration.
curt....Why doesnt Johnson or Gordon have Battery cable failures and clamps busting off that sever the oil lines?? Why? Because his crew chief is the best in the business and has the whole entire team working like a champ. How many times this season has AJ's car finished the race early because something wasnt clmaped right, or screwed on tightly? How many? How awesome has Vickers been since he got a new Chief?? Why dont you think about that. And i havent registered a name because I never thought about it, its convienent to just post annony. Sorry that makes a difference between a real fan to you.
If you click the Name/URL you can just type a name for yourself without registering. If you just keep using anon you get grouped with dumb asses that come on here and post BS.
Good job today BV and the whole 83 team you had perfect strategy up until the last stop. One of these times it is going to go our way.
excuse me, but how the HELL is a mechanical failure Rick Viers fault? The crew has a check list to go through each morning, if something isn't "screwed tightly" or a "battery cable pops off" thats not Viers fault. He can't be there to hold the crew guys' hand every second.
Good Job BV! Awesome race again this week. Only lost 2 points. We are gonna kick ass saturday night!!!!!!
They fell back in the pack was just because of 1 bad call and other people doing pit strategy. If their motor didn't blow up, LIKE I SAID IN MY PREVIOUS POST, Rick Viers would've taken the gamble like Kurt Busch and the others did. They didn't get that chance. If that motor didn't let go, AJ would've gotten a top 5 (top 10 at least) and I'm sure everyone would be praising Rick Viers.
How dare some of you call yourselves fans, seriously. All you do is whine week after week. Shame on those of you that are losing faith in AJ.
Anyways, RBRT has a new video up if anyone has forgotten.
I'm not saying that any Dinger fans should be happy about today, but I wish you'd come here in "frustration" mode rather than "anger" mode.
And Curt, I know you've been around NASCAR long enough to know that fans will always look for someone to blame. It's why the #5 car will have a new driver next year, and why the #42 car had 3 different crew chiefs in less than one month. Someone always has to be to blame. I'm certainly not saying it's Viers, AJ, his crew, or anyone's faults. The 84 has been considerably stronger every week for the last few months. Don't let one bad race get you down. It happens to everyone.
Scott finished 8th in the ARCA race. Congrats to him!
Everyone here knows AJ is frustrated. I know it, other fans know it, RBRT knows it, and AJ knows it.
The problem with team 84 is they can't keep up with the competition. It's either hit or miss, and it's usually more miss than hit.
I've heard it from AJ time and time again this yeah.. "What did you all do to my car?! This thing was awesome until that pit stop?! What happened?!"
AJ is one heck of a driver, that is why I root for him, but this issue lies within the 84 leadership, not the driver. You can't continue to turn a great car into a crap car and expect good results. It doesn't work that way.
I have faith that they can turn it around, but you have to look at the 83 team, too. They weren't "gellin'," so they made changes. And look at them now!
All I'm saying is if the 84 team doesn't improve or crack the top 35 within the next few races, I would start making some changes.
And I wouldn't look at the driver.
Bad day today, we can all agree on that (BV deserved at least 12th or higher after the way he ran). The race is over guys, complaining isnt going to help anything. Sure A.J. was at the back, that was in the first 100 laps!! He would have been fine, dont blame the crew chief, he would have found a way to get them back in the top 20 at least. All we can do is look forward to a good day at Daytona to make up some of those points we lost, all we need is 3 or 4 top 15s at least to get into the top 35! I dunno bout some of you but i believe! Go get em at Daytona boys!!
Just saw they are coming out with a Scott Speed diecast truck. Looks pretty cool:
http://www.thesundayhauler.com/store/scott_speed_red_bull2008.html
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